Tom Frieden, former Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, attends his arraignment at Brooklyn Criminal Court following his arrest on sex abuse charges, August 24, 2018 in New York City. (Photo by Lucas Jackson-Pool/GettyImages)

Former CDC Head Thomas Frieden Arrested on Sexual Abuse Charges

The doctor who ran the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for eight years under the Obama Administration was arrested Friday and charged with groping a female acquaintance in his Brooklyn home last October.

The accuser is a 55-year-old woman who told police last month that Frieden had squeezed her rear end against her will when their spouses were not looking during a gathering at Dr. Frieden’s Brooklyn Heights home, police sources told The New York Times.

The woman is a #metoo activist and wrote on the incident for a magazine in April without revealing the identity of her attacker, according to the newspaper. Frieden, 57, has been charged with forcible touching, third-degree sexual abuse and harassment.

Frieden also served as New York City’s health commissioner from 2002 to 2009 under Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg.